MALTON and Norton maintained their impressive form in North One East and moved up to eighth spot after a 20-17 victory at Morpeth.

A deliberate knock on by a Morpeth defender led to Paul Angus giving Malton the lead from a penalty after ten minutes.

The hosts then retaliated from the kick off and were awarded a penalty in front of the Malton posts when a scrum collapsed however the Morpeth kicker, inexplicably, missed the target.

Morpeth enjoyed a period of prolonged pressure and, when Malton were penalised for entering a ruck from the side, a quickly taken penalty 15 metres out caught the Malton defence flat footed. The try in the corner gave the hosts a slender lead with 20 minutes gone.

The Malton line out was not working as efficiently as expected and Morpeth sought to capitalise. The Malton defence, however, was functioning well and nullified any advantage the hosts were able to gain.

When Morpeth were adjudged to have illegally collapsed a scrum out on the left, Angus again found his range and the lead switched again in Malton's favour. Deep into first half injury time, Morpeth were reduced to 14 men for ten minutes when another deliberate knock on saw the offender shown a yellow card.

Malton went into the break with a deserved one point lead but, more importantly, seemed to have their tails up.

Morpeth had shown signs of their potential, especially through the pack, but had been largely held by the Malton defence.

The second half started badly for Malton when the hosts were again awarded a penalty in front of the posts as Malton failed to release a tackled player.

Once again the home kicker's radar was off-line and another chance was spurned.

Malton regained possession from the 22 metre drop out and swiftly made ground to the halfway line.

When the ball was freed from the mass of bodies, the alert George Harrison was on hand to pick up and bash his way through two tackles before leaving his pursuers trailing in his wake to score under the posts. Angus added the extras and Malton led 13-5.

For a period, Malton appeared to be on the wrong end of a number of decisions and Morpeth took full advantage.

Using their abrasive but totally fair pack they forced Malton back with a series of drives and scored in the corner to reduce the gap to three points.

Midway through the half, they struck again and, using the same tactics, forced their way over the line to take the lead.

More importantly, Malton were reduced in numbers when centre Nick Rangiuira was shown a red card for inappropriate language.

It was now Morpeth's turn to be on the wrong end of the referee's whistle as Malton were awarded a number of penalties to take them deep into home territory. Some of Malton's rugby was a delight to watch and the strong running in the backs caused the home defence a number of problems.

Malton got the game winning score from, arguably, the best piece of play in the game.

Good handling throughout the side had the home defence grasping at straws and fly half Luke Raduva seized the chance to show his skills, dancing and darting through for fine solo try from 20 metres out. Angus again added the extras and Malton had a three point lead with ten minutes to go.

Sensible play meant that Malton dominated possession for much of the remaining time and successfully played out time to take the points.

Another good all round display but Harrison again stood out with Jim Thornton, back on familiar territory, Ben Boothman and Sam Triffitt among the forwards and Payi, Tom Clark and Raduva the pick of the backs.

Following the Easter break Malton entertain league leaders Pocklington at The Gannock in the final game of the season.